Province provides $566,000 for trades equipment

Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Al Horning and the Hon. Rick Thorpe, Okanagan-Coquihalla MLA and Minister of Small Business and Revenue, were on hand at the Heavy Duty/Commercial Transport Shop today to announce $565,966 in funding for trades equipment for Okanagan College. Check out the Province's press release here.

Student Andy Elliott	MLAs Al Horning and Rick Thorpe

Business students on top at two competitions

Students from the School of Business continue to distinguish themselves with their winning ways at both the B.C. Business Simulation and the Students In Free Enterprise Regional Competition.
In the Business Simulation, the team consisting of John Nesbitt (Vernon), Richard Qu (International), Brianna Tofin and Scott Stevens (Kelowna) captured the title of Top Team and won first place in three other categories, as well as silver in the CEO category. You can read more about their victory in the attached Publlic Affairs News Release. . .

Even before news of the Business Business Simulation Team's victory came in the students and faculty in Business Administration were relishing word of the performances put in by two Okanagan School of Business teams at the regional competition of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) held in Calgary.

B.C. Business Simulation Team	The SIFE teams

SIFE Okanagan won first place in two categories: the HSBC SIFE Financial Education Challenge and the TD SIFE Entrepreneurship Challenge, shutting out 21 rival teams from institutions including UBC, TRU, the University of Alberta, the University of Saskatchewan and Royal Roads University. The two teams earned $1,500 in cash prizes each and a trip to the national competition in May.
Team Entrepreneurship was comprised of Vernon business student Dustin Felske and three students from Kelowna: Andrew Malashewsky, Krystle Sivorot and Jason Sanders.
Team Financial Literacy was also made up of one Vernon and three Kelowna students: Justin Sharma (Vernon), Stewart LaPage, Jayme Cosar and Mike Blonde. The teams were mentored by Okanagan College faculty advisors Garth Maguire and Dr. Kyleen Myrah.
You can read more about the victory in the oh-so-slightly-boastful press release . . .

Okanagan Lakers Athletics update

Men’s Volleyball

The Okanagan Lakers men’s volleyball team earned a Silver Medal at the 2008 CCAA Men's Volleyball National Championships hosted by Humber College in Toronto, ON. The Lakers had a great tournament defeating King’s College Blue Devils from Halifax, NS and then the Briercrest Bible College Clippers from Caronport, SK to advance to the gold medal game. The Lakers were then defeated in the gold medal game by Mount Royal College of Calgary, AB. Okanagan's Chris Major was named a first team all-star and teammate Jeff Cundy was named to the second team.

Women’s Volleyball

The Okanagan Lakers women’s volleyball team earned a Bronze Medal during the 2008 CCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championships held at Mount Royal College in Calgary, AB. The women Lakers rolled over Humber College in the first game before falling to rivals Malispina College in the semi-finals. The women then went on to beat the College Francois-Xavier Garneau Elans from Quebec to capture the bronze medal. The Okanagan women’s team also took home the Fair Play Team Award. Okanagan's Tammy Thomas and Rebecca Warnes were also named first and second team all-stars respectively.

Women’s Basketball

The Okanagan Lakers women’s basketball team brought home the Bronze Medal after the BCCAA provincial tournament held at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, BC from Feb 28 – March 1. After falling to UNBC in the semi-finals (62-56), the Okanagan Lakers defeated the Malispina Mariners 74-69 to capture the Bronze Medal. Okanagan College’s Mandy Trenholm was named to the Women's Tournament All-Star Team.

Men’s Basketball

The Okanagan Lakers men’s basketball are competing in the CCAA National Championship tournament being held at Champlain College Saint-Lambert in St. Lambert, Quebec March 13-15. After a 66-57 loss Thursday to the Mount Saint Vincent Mystics, the Lakes are fighting for a chance at the bronze medal. They were to face the host Champlain College Saint Lambert Cavaliers Friday afternoon. The Cavaliers are ranked sixth in the nation, the Lakers seventh. If you're interested, Champlain College has established a live webcast of the games.

New world record at 25th Spaghetti Bridge

They don't build spaghetti brdiges like they used to . . . That point was made emphatically by this year's winner of the 25th annual Spaghetti Bridge Building competition held March 7 at the KLO campus. Bala’zs Botka of Hungary’s Budapest Polytechnic set a new world record of a bridge weighing less than a kilogram holding 352.62 kilograms - about 95 kilograms (about 209 pounds for those who still don't think metric) more than the world record he set last year. (257.33 kg).

You can read more about the competition in our press release.
And for those who are wondering about Canadian bridge building abilities, we should note that this year marked the fifth consecutive top place finish for a student from Budapest Polytechnic.

Revelstoke showcases first Home for Learning

The open house on March 7 for the Home for Learning project in Revelstoke was a great success. With the house now finished, many VIPS, and the general public took great pride in celebrating the success of the program and the generosity of the many project donors. Another reason to celebrate is that every single student in the first residential construction program in Revelstoke has been hired into apprenticeship carpentry positions.

Okanagan Business Students' Banquet

Bill Redmond	Justin Sharma and Director of Advancement Kathy Butler

2007's Alumni of the Year, Nick Arkle, delivered a compelling speech to about 400 business leaders, students and Okanagan College supporters on March 13 at the 29th annual Okanagan Business Students Association banquet, that focused on making the most of a life. Nick's message was an exclamation point on the theme of the evening: Be the Change. He had the unenviable job of following an inspirational student speaker, Justin Sharma, who captured the audience's attention with his passion and delivery. (Justin is mentioned elsewhere in this edition, for his participation in the SIFE team that helped dominate the Western Regional Competition). Another highlight of the evening was a tribute to Bill Redmond, who was recognized for his contributions and role as the School of Business's original Entrepreneur in Residence.

SD 23 Home for Learning launch

March 10 saw the launch of another Home for Learning project, this one spearheaded by School District 23,in partnership with Okanagan College.  School District Superintendent Mike Roberts and Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton were among the VIPs  present to  mark the occasion, but it was the students who earned the attention of the television cameras (click to see the CHBC Coverage of the event)

Far-flung efforts

A team of Okanagan College students packed up their catapult last weekend and made for Vancouver, hoping to mimic last year's performance where two of our students dominated a contest sponsored by the Canadian Wood Council. But fate (or rather damp weather) intervened. Team member Scott Stephen reports that somewhere between Kelowna and Vancouver, dampness permeated the wrapping and swelled a critical dowel pin that was integral to the catapult's proper operation. The deadly accuracy the group had developed in Kelowna during practice was robbed by humidity and the group, which did exceptionally well on its report and presentation about their trebuchet, came in sixth. "Apart from our results in the competition we still had a lot of fun and learned a lot," says Scott. "There's a whole lot of group dynamics that go into making one of these things." That said, Scott was happy to report that the group "still managed to beat our nemesis UBCO."

The next edition of the RV Lifestyles Seminar was profiled in the March edition of Forever Young Magazine.
Dr. Kyleen Myrah has been honoured as a Senator by JCI Canada and JCI Okanagan, as noted by Business Thompson Okanagan
The Home For Learning in Summerland was featured in an article in Business Thompson Okanagan (March issue).
Pop goes the pasta was the headline in the Okanagan Saturday when a new world record spaghetti bridge was built (and broken).
Parents with Spring Break on their minds could turn to coverage of the College's offerings in an article in the March 4 edition of the Daily Courier. and in the March 5 edition of the Kelowna Capital News
"When smoke gets in your eyes" could have been the headline in an article in the Friday, March 7 edition of the Daily Courier, when a small roof fire in the lab building at the KLO campus was reported.
At the Penticton Campus, a plea for volunteers to help Business Administration students and college volunteers help clean up Penticton Creek on March 29 made the Penticton Herald.
New funding for literacy programs was the focus of a story published in the Penticton Western News on Feb. 29, citing Nancy Noble-Hearle.
The Penticton Campus's lecture and film series earned ink in the Oliver Chronicle on March 5.
The Okanagan Short Fiction Contest was the subject of a story in the Capital News on March 5.
Columnist Jane Muskens focused her articles on the gender imbalance in higher education and on the career doors that a science education can provide.
Business Administration Professor Ron Spence's face served as the illustration for a Feb. 24 article in the Penticton Western News that talked about the expanding Junior Achievement programs in the South Okanagan. More than 400 students participated in the program.
Stan Chung grappled with the topics of celebrity (Oprah Winfrey), diet, and self-acceptance in his March 9 column in the Okanagan Sunday.
On-line news provider Castanet featured the spaghetti bridge contest on March 8.

ASE students offer 'student for a day' experience

The response was even better than first expected when Wanda Radies' class of Adult Special Education students put out an invitation to "be a student for a day" last week. Close to 30 interested potential students came to enjoy breakfast in the Salmon Arm campus café, after which they took a tour of the campus and learned about the programs offered by the ASE department.

 

Baby Hay arrives!

The Alumni Association and the Advancement office have a new face to celebrate, with the arrival of Kat Hay's daughter, Annika. She arrived this week, weighing it at nine pounds, four ounces. Our congratulations go out to Kat and Rob!

 

Listen for Lent

The inimitable John Lent, Regional Dean of the North Okanagan, joins his fellow musicians Neil Fraser and Shelby Wall for a gig at the Naramata Heritage Inn tonight (March 14) - he's inviting everyone to pop in if they're in the south Okanagan. And in case you don't know about the Lent Fraser Wall trio, you can visit the website and even sample some of the music they play

March 14, 2008, Vol. 1 Issue 24

PeopleAdmin: New Web-based Recruitment Tool Chosen for Okanagan College

One of the HR department's top priorities has been an overall review of Okanagan College’s recruitment and staffing processes.  As part of this review, HR has identified several goals including:
1.    Streamlining the recruitment and staffing functions by making use of technology solutions
2.    Attracting well-qualified applicants for our position vacancies
3.    Ensuring timely selection decisions are made in hiring candidates
4.    Maintaining efficient use of Okanagan College's recruitment resources
To define the functionality of a recruitment system to work well with the current Banner HR system, HR commenced a review of recruitment systems.  This review has led to the purchase of PeopleAdmin, a web-based tool that specializes in recruitment at higher education institutions.
The implementation timeline for the web-based Applicant Tracking and Position Description modules is March through June 2008 with a “go-live” date in July 2008. 
The seven-person cross-functional implementation team includes Margo Kendal, Lynda Lays, Carmen Nadon, Cornelia Bujara, Joan Kleinsteuber, Craig McLuckie and Jessica Oman.
You can look forward to implementation status updates in subsequent releases of Inside Okanagan College.  The PeopleAdmin website is www.peopleadmin.com.

Interruption in Server Service - March 16

Maintenance in the main data centre on Sunday, March 16th will require many servers to be shut down from 7 a.m. until about 10 a.m. Most services will be affected, including:
·It will not be possible to log into student, faculty, or staff workstations on Kelowna campuses. Other campuses and centres will not be affected.
·Student, faculty, and staff e-mail will not be available. No e-mail will be lost.
· The wireless network not be available.
· My Okanagan will not be available.
· WebCT will not be available.

All services should be restored by about 10:00 AM.

50/50 winner announced

Congratulations to Brenda Foster from Student Services in Kelowna who won today's payday draw for $445. The Okanagan College Foundation 50/50 Staff Lottery is open to all employees of Okanagan College. If you wish to sign up for the lottery, registration forms are available from: Advancement & Alumni/Okanagan College Foundation office (P103, KLO Campus), Human Resources (Landmark V, Kelowna) or online.

 

Blood Drive

The second annual Okanagan College blood donor drive will get underway on March 18, 19, 25 and 26 in Kelowna. The drive will span four days in order to accommodate staff and students schedules as well as diminish wait times. Anyone wishing to register can contact Angie (local 4501).  If the Okanagan College blood drive dates do not fit into your schedule you can call Canadian Blood Services to book your own time. If you would like your donation to contribute to Okanagan College's just let the staff at the clinic know you are from the College and your donation will be included in the drive. Call 1-888-2-DONATE to book your appointment.

Okanagan College Awards & Applications - 2008/2009

Awards for 2008/2009 for new and continuing students have been posted on the Financial Aid & Awards website.  Check it out at:  www.okanagan.bc.ca/financialaid

Please note:  some awards are campus-specific, while others are College-wide (i.e., for students attending any campus of Okanagan College).  For example, students attending the Penticton Campus can apply for Penticton Campus awards as well as College-wide awards.

Students may apply for more than one award.  The award descriptions, deadlines and application forms are all available on the website.

College will close for Easter

Okanagan College will be closed on Friday, March 21 and Monday, March 24 due to statutory Easter holidays. The college will re-open on Tuesday, March 25.

Suds & Slides

What better way to spend a Thursday afternoon than by viewing a slide presentation of photos from Spain. The event is free and takes place in Kelowna on March 27 from 4:45 – 6:30 p.m. at the Minstrel Café, located at 4638 Lakeshore Road.

Volunteers needed for Campus-to-Campus

The Okanagan College Campus-to-Campus 1/2 Marathon and Relay Race is looking for volunteers to work as course marshalls. This job requires a small time commitment on Sunday, March 30. If you would like to help out and cheer on the runners email Stephanie Paul . All volunteers receive a Campus-to-Campus T-shirt and are invited for coffee and goodies in the cafeteria the morning of the race.

Student Loan expert at KLO next week

Rose Geworsky, the regional representative of the Nation Student Loan Service Centre is going to be at KLO on March 19, to offer two sessions to students regarding student loan repayment. Department Chairs, faculty members and others might want to help get the word out to graduating students about the free sessions, which are from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Look for posters around campus . . . Location? Portable 1.





March 16 – Student Life and Campus Recreation in Kelowna has coordinated a hike of the Kalamoir Trails from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. The group will meet at the Pit prior to the hike, which costs $5. Contact Alicia King for more information.

March 17 – Join in on a Student Life event in the Pit at the Kelowna campus to celebrate the day of the Irish. The St. Patty’s celebration begins at 11:30 a.m. and will offer music and lucky Irish games. Contact Alicia King for more information.

March 17 – Penticton Speaker Series: People Who Care: An Environmental Expo. Ever wondered how you can make a difference? Several local organizations, projects, and groups will be on hand to discuss current activities you can get involved in to help preserve the environment in your community. This event begins at 7 p.m. in the Penticton lecture theatre. Contact Kaya Forest for more information.

March 26 – Student Life Kelowna is hosting a Texas Hold’em Tournament on Wednesday beginning at 4 p.m. in the Pit. To sign up, contact Alicia King.

March 27 - Suds & Slides in Kelowna will begin at 4:45 p.m. at the Minstrel Café (4638 Lakeshore Road) with a slide presentation from Spain. The event is free and tickets are not required.

March 30 – Campus to Campus Half Marathon & Bookworm Relay Race. The race begins at Okanagan College’s Penno Road building and finishes at the KLO campus. To register go online – to volunteer for the race contact Stephanie Paul.

March 31-April 4 – Campus Recreation in Kelowna is hosting PONG-A-THON, a weeklong ping-pong competition. Everyone is encouraged to sign up for the free contest. Contact Alicia King to sign up or for more information.

May 25 – The Penticton Philosopher’s Café will feature an evening with John Ralston Saul: Musings about Canada’s Global Future. Join Award-winning essayist and novelist, John Ralston Saul, as he examines the future of Canada’s global military and economic role. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Penticton High Auditorium. Tickets are available at the Penticton campus of Okanagan College or the Tumbleweed Gallery (adults $10, students $7, at the door $15). There's another event on Monday, a chance to dine with John Ralston Saul at the Front Street Bar and Bistro. It's a limited-audience event, though, and tickets are a little more: $200. The dinner is a fundraiser for the Okanagan College Foundation

Institutional Research Factlets

During the fall of 2007 Okanagan College had 5,280 students on campus versus 5,096 on campus during the fall of 2006.
See the IR web site for more IR Factlets.

Penticton Library unveils new painting

The Penticton campus Library is looking a whole lot brighter these days after a new painting was purchased and hung in the building. The painting was purchased by student services and features the work of artist Dorothy Tinning, a member of the Okanagan College Regional Advisory Committee. The painting is entitled, A Tribute to Smoker Marchand.




Do you have comments, questions or a submission for INSIDE OKANAGAN COLLEGE? Please email Public Affairs c/o Christine Ulmer.

The next edition of INSIDE OKANAGAN COLLEGE will be issued on March 28, 2008.

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